The Golden Butterfly—Norseman—Gold Exhibits—Coolgardie—Alluvial
Treasures.
Before leaving for England Mr. St. John Winne, the manager of the
Butterfly Leases at Red Hill, showed me some marvellously rich gold
specimens that he was taking with him to show the English investors. One
particular piece from which the mine derives its name is in the shape of
a butterfly—wings, body, even the little horns are perfectly like one. I
have read the “Golden Butterfly,” and have seen many golden butterflies
careering in the air, but never thought to have one of natural solid gold
in my hand. Mr. Winne has now returned from England, and I believe the
English shareholders’ eyes were fairly dazzled with the samples of the
prospective wealth before them.
[Illustration: Golden Butterfly Nugget]
It is 40 miles from Coolgardie to Red Hill and Lake Lefroy, and the
journey is anything but pleasant; the “Brumbies,” however, knew their
way, and the manner in which they got through the bush was astounding.
There was no road, only a track, but they took us safely over fallen
trees, &c., for which we were duly thankful. There were several camps
of prospectors about and the men seemed to be quite contented, and were
getting gold; they were, however, like all alluvial miners, rather
reticent about the quantity. Water is very scarce; it was a good thing we
had provided ourselves with water-bags and a good hamper of provisions,
otherwise we should have fared badly, for the only bush hotel we came
to was made of the proverbial tin, and everything inside was nearly at
boiling-point, so we preferred camping out under a tree. Water-bags are a
great institution in Western Australia. They are made of canvas, and have
a metal spout; as you drive along they swing in the air, which makes the
water delightfully cool. Lake Lefroy is a beautiful-looking lake, and I
longed for a bathe after the intense heat and dust of the day; but, alas!
the water was but a mirage, and you could only look and long. It was,
however, a beautiful sight; the white salt on its surface, stretching
for miles, seemed to reflect the blue sky with the sun shimmering on it.
There are a great number of lakes in Western Australia, but they are
nearly all dry and salt; no water can be obtained except by boring, and
then it has to be condensed before it is usable. After being condensed it
is quite palatable, and many fortunes have been made on the goldfields by
people owning condensers.
[Illustration: The Main Shaft, Butterfly Leases.]
Red Hill is not a bad little place. The accommodation of the Bush
“hotel” was very primitive, but we were in the “back-blocks” of the
West, and felt that we must not be too critical. There were several
mines and numbers of alluvial miners at work getting good results,
and very sanguine of making a big find one of these days. I saw the
stope (excavation) where the Treasure Chamber was, in which all the
before-mentioned gold at the Butterfly Mine was found, and I wished a
similar rich pocket might be struck while I was on the spot. Thirty miles
from Red Hill is Wigiemooltha, and 65 miles farther on is Norseman, a
rich mining town in the Dundas Goldfield. In the future there is to be a
railway line through these places, and, the people hope, to Esperance,
a seaport 200 miles from Coolgardie and 237 miles from Albany. Norseman
is a very flourishing goldfields town of over 1000 people. There are
some good mines there, the foremost one, The Norseman, turning out
considerably over 1000 ounces of gold per month. The Princess Royal and
Break o’ Day Mines have also given splendid results, sensationally rich
gold having been recently found at the latter mine.
The clergyman at Norseman performs the tying of the marriage-knot for
many hundred miles around, and it is recorded that two couples were so
anxious for connubial felicity, and wrote so many pressing letters for
the minister to come and unite them, that he started on his bicycle for a
150-mile ride through the desert country, and that when within 20 miles
of the place the bicycle broke down and he had to push it the rest of
the way! Had this not happened he had intended going on another trifle
of 100 miles or so to make another couple happy! The breakdown, however,
put a stop to his travels, and the couple are perhaps still watching and
waiting for the parson, who returned to Norseman per camel.
An exhibition was being held at Coolgardie during one of my visits
there, and was very interesting on account of the many magnificent gold
exhibits. As well as the gold, there were many splendid exhibits from the
agricultural districts, which opened the eyes of the goldfields people,
most of whom had never been in any other part of the colony but the
goldfields, and who had an idea that gold was Western Australia’s only
product. Many of these people have been so much impressed that they have
taken up agricultural land with a view to having a country residence,
to which they can retire after the heat and dryness of the goldfields
and recruit while planting their gardens. In the Agricultural and Fruit
Court bunches of grapes, weighing 8 lb. each, apples, pears, and quinces,
2 lb. each, pomegranates, oranges, and other fruits, were shown in rich
and tempting profusion. A trophy of pumpkins, marrows, and cucumbers of
all hues, shapes, and sizes was displayed. The crown of the trophy was a
huge brown pumpkin weighing 165 lb.! A vast array of watermelons, some
weighing 50 lb. each, mangels and other sorts of homely vegetables, of
immense size, were to be seen. All kinds of cereals were represented. It
is a fact that no less than 32 distinct varieties of wheat can be grown
in the colony. The wool I thought very good, considering what a small
quantity is grown here yet. The collection certainly demonstrates the
fitness of certain parts of the colony for raising flocks. One fleece of
330 days growth weighed 13½ lb. I was also surprised to see some cotton
that was grown on the East Murchison at Mount Warragi.
The row of gilt pyramids representing the output of gold from each field
struck my eye as soon as I entered the exhibition. It is interesting to
remember that, when the Colonial and Indian Exhibition was held at South
Kensington, London, Western Australia was not known as a gold-producing
country, and was represented principally by wild flowers. In this
exhibition the collection of auriferous ores was simply marvellous. There
were many bags of rich gold ores from all parts of the country, as well
as curious beautiful and interesting specimens of tin, iron, copper,
asbestos, mica, and coal; in fact, samples of almost everything found
beneath the earth’s surface in this wide colony. Then the gold: gold in
granite, gold in quartz, gold in diorite, gold in telluride, gold in the
wash, gold in the pug, gold in all kinds of alluvial deposits—in fact,
gold, gold everywhere. A section of the calcite vein from the Block 45
Mine, where the telluride was first discovered, is interesting. The
auriferous breccia from Nullagine, in the North-west, was shown to me
by my guide, who explained that the stuff was of similar formation to
the gold deposits of the Rand in South Africa, in which diamonds are
sometimes found; and, speaking of Nullagine, there is now a syndicate
there looking for diamonds. The mine is called after Lady Forrest, some
small diamonds have been found, and from the latest reports fresh wonders
are expected there soon.
There was a splendid specimen of fine flake gold, and a magnificent large
piece of quartz with gold all through it. This was from the Brown Hill
Mine. The Golden Horseshoe showed such wonderful specimens of richness
that my eyes were fairly dazzled, and it is impossible to enumerate them.
Free gold, mustard gold, and the sparkling sponge gold that really shone
like diamonds were shown me, and a part of the rich finds that were
discovered when the shares went up to £45; it nearly took my breath away
to look at them. The Associated Mines had a wonderful exhibit, the finest
of its kind in the world. It consisted of a block of ore showing massive
telluride gold of different kinds. A dark mineral in the centre of the
block when analysed proved to be sulphide of copper. By way of contrast,
a small piece of ore containing telluride has been placed in front, and
acid employed to dissolve the tellurium, and this helps one to comprehend
the value of telluride.
The Boulder Perseverance had a very fine collection of different kinds
of ore and gold and also some diamond drill cores which I had not seen
before. The magnificent collection of the Lake View Consols, consisting
of 68 specimens, showing telluride of gold, 34 valuable samples of
sulphide ore, and 32 pieces of oxidised ore, showing immense quantities
of gold, besides many others showing the various stages of oxidisation,
really ought to be seen, words cannot describe their beauty. The Great
Boulder Mine showed 14 splendid specimens of rich oxidised ore from the
100-foot level, containing sponge and free gold, and 15 specimens from
the 200-foot level. In the centre of these was a block of ore with a
hole right through it full of sponge gold; there were 12 specimens of
rich sulphide ore from the 300-foot level, 10 very interesting samples
of tellurides of gold, mercury, and silver, and saucers with chips of
telluride of gold. Kalgurlite, which is a new mineral, a telluride of
gold, silver, and mercury, containing 35 per cent. of gold, 10 per cent.
of silver, and 46 per cent. of tellurium, was also exhibited, and a very
unique collection of sponge gold occupied a case in the centre of the
court. This was found in a very large vugh, and 60lb. weight was obtained
from one spot in the oxidised ore. It was composed of a mass of minute
crystals, and is the most brilliant form of gold found upon the field.
From the 400-foot level came some marvellous samples of ore showing
telluride of gold and free gold, and from the hanging wall of the lode,
and the foot wall of the same level, more rich specimens were shown.
[Illustration: The Miners’ Holiday]
There were some splendid exhibits from the Ivanhoe Mine, and from
hundreds of other mines on the field. Those I have first mentioned were
from Kalgoorlie alone. There were splendid exhibits from Coolgardie,
Kanowna, Menzies, and Murchison Mines, and from many other parts of the
colony, whose unparalleled richness called forth the following remark
from an American mining-man, who was visiting the court at the same time
as I was, and who had come from Cripple Creek in Colorado: “Wal, I’ve
seen a big lot of specimens in my time, but I must take off my hat to
these; they lick creation!” I returned next day to have a look at the
alluvial gold from the famed Kanowna. The court of alluvial diggings
was attracting a great deal of attention, not because of its richness
but also on account of the stir made in 1897 by the rush there, when the
rich alluvial gold was first struck by George Sim. Not only has Kanowna
proved itself a mine of wealth for thousands of hard-working alluvial
miners, who chiefly worked the claims themselves, and consequently
had all the gold “on their own,” as their saying goes, but it also
produces a very fine building stone. There was in the exhibition a most
remarkable-looking perfect crystal 17½ inches long and 9 inches thick,
which was discovered in the alluvial wash at Shand and party’s Claim. The
display of alluvial matter in all its varied forms shown in this court
was almost enough to spur on any one to become a prospector. A golden
harvest has been reaped by thousands of men in a few short months, for
the rush to Kanowna began in November 1897, and at that time the town
of Kanowna was virtually dead; three months later it was estimated that
there were 2000 miners in the field and 20,000 people in Kanowna all
told. In twelve months the field was virtually worked out, and although a
few parties are still getting a reward for their labours, there are not
now more than 1000 men on the field. The stuff called “pug,” from which
they get very fine gold, is a most peculiar greenish, soft, putty-looking
substance, and there was a fine show of it from Hampton’s Claim in the
Golden Valley. This was found 61 feet down, and the deposit is 7 feet
thick. Some splendid specimens of lode material showed crystalline gold
extremely rich, worth 40 ounces to the ton. The Red, White and Blue
Claim, owned by Pratt and party, displayed rich ironstone alluvial
wash. This claim yielded 4500 ounces of gold, worth £18,000, and only a
few partners divided it. Some green alluvial wash which has given rich
results was from the Moonlight Lead, which also showed flake gold; and
from the Magpie Claim there was rich alluvial ore shown worth 9 ounces
per ton.
Rich treasures similar to these were sent from the mines to the Paris
Exhibition, and the Western Australian Court was universally said to
have the finest collection of minerals the world had ever shown. The
Bobby Dazzler nugget, weighing 413 ounces of solid gold, valued at £1500,
was a surprise to many beholders; among the hundreds of other solid lumps
of the precious metal sent to Paris was the large nugget that was cut in
two by one of the two men who found it, and who then drew lots for the
sections and found that there was only a difference of 30s. in the value
of them. Another slug of gold, worth £639, had the distinct mark of a
pick on it. I suppose the man who found it could hardly believe in his
good luck until he struck it a second time. Another strange lump of gold
is shaped like the map of England, another like a camel’s head. The last
“clean up” of the Westralian Mount Morgans Mine was sent in bars of gold
worth £11,600. The Westralian Government purchased from the owners of
various mines I mention in these travels over £100,000 worth of gold for
the exhibition, and this, supplemented by quantities more since won, will
be shown at the Glasgow Exhibition this year. The pearl-shell exhibit,
was composed of 600 enormous gleaming shells, which, when lit up by
electric light, looked like a fairy grotto. During last year there were
179 vessels engaged in the pearl-shell fisheries in Western Australia,
and their aggregate tonnage was 2707. The number of men employed was
1165, of which total 991 were Asiatics. The pearl-shell raised amounted
to 720 tons, valued at £80,479, and the value of pearls found was
£15,529. Also our colony took four first prizes for timber, wool, wheat,
and minerals, at the Paris Exhibition, besides eight gold medals, five
silver ones, and five bronze for other productions.
[Illustration: Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie, 1898]